kids' books: thoughts, recommendations & reviews

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April Showers

Home in the Rain by Bob GrahamTurning the everyday into something extraordinary, Graham is the master of embracing a child’s view of the world. This wonderful little tale follows Francie and her mum as they drive home in torrential rain from Grandma’s house. The illustrations loop in and out of the car, as the reader sees the small red car jammed between lorries and oil-tankers on the highway, before zooming into the backseat with Francie, and then out into the countryside tucked away beyond the road, with the wildlife sheltering from the wet, and up into the air as a kestrel dives.

Graham explores the sights, sounds and smells of the everyday – from an argument at an interchange, to the smell of farmyards, the squeaky sound as Francie writes on the steamed up car window, rainbow oil puddles, the noise of the radio, and finally into Francie’s imagination as she wonders what her new baby sister will be named when she’s born.

The observational perspectives of the book pick out what’s familiar and what’s new, just like the coming of a new baby. It’s an atmospheric book, empathetic, and both words and pictures express a softness that feels soothing – an ‘everything’s going to be alright’ tone. You can buy it here.

The Rhythm of the Rain by Grahame Baker-SmithA book that takes an image of a small boy playing in his favourite pool on the mountainside, opens up to huge scope as it portrays Earth’s water cycle.

Isaac sees clouds dark above him, the rain pours down into the pool creating streams that flow into the river near his house (beautifully cast on stilts). The book then follows the river into the sea.

It is the ambition of the book that is so impressive. Baker-Smith conveys the cycle of water of course, explaining the ocean steaming into mist, but the magic lies within the water’s journey. He conveys how water adds to the environment, how humans, animals and vegetation interact with it across the globe and throughout time. Water is important and transient, both gentle and powerful. He shows the different ways in which water presents – its stillness in a jar of water, plunging waterfalls, laughing streams, meandering rivers, churning waves. Water is commodity, yet nature, utilitarian resource, yet something to be protected. Pure and simple in its magnitude.

And all the while referring back to Isaac. Each page is an illustrative work of art, and the words ebb and flow like poetry. The use of light in the artworks is extraordinary – Isaac’s reflection in the water as he stands in the natural pool is haunting and wondrous. Not to be missed. Buy your copy here.

Once Upon a Raindrop by James Carter, illustrated by NomocoThis too is the story of water, but so utterly different in style. Nomoco’s abstract watercolour feels almost like the different types of water itself – sometimes looping down the pages in the form of water-carrying pipes, at others winding its way across the page like a river. There are droplets too – inkstains in circles across a page – and always accompanied by Carter’s poetry as he explores the facts of the matter in lyrics.

Starting with the beginning of time, Carter tracks water on meteors that carry ice, all the way through to water’s uses today – keeping humans clean and healthy – as well as life’s overwhelming necessity for water.

Because each page is so different from the next, both in form of poem and execution of illustration, it allows the reader to dissect the different formations of water and the different elements to it. Modern, fresh and impactful, this makes for a refreshing imbibing of information. Get wet here.